The Master Freelancer Awards are about celebrating what can sometimes be a lonely profession. The work matters, and the impact it makes needs to be recognized. The winners will be featured globally by both CreativeMornings and ​FreshBooks, and will receive the inaugural Master Freelancer trophy, a Bamboo Spark, and a free FreshBooks subscription for one year.

Originally this was a promo piece for Caitlyn Jenner, but the director Stuart Getty came to us to try to help with a different kind of statement piece, without Caitlyn, just about the kids. And we think it is absolutely great!

Did you collaborate on it with anyone else?

Yes! The full list of credits is listed in the video.

Why did you become a freelancer?

The idea of a 9-5 made me want to die. And the film world is not only creative, but also prone to a type of revolving work that keeps things interesting.

What makes a good freelancer?

An organized schedule and good boundaries. It can be easy to worry about always finding work, but if you set up boundaries for yourself and your clients, they will come to expect a sort of consistency from you. The ideal situation is for them to say, “oh, Erin, she’s on a job now, but she’ll get back to me as soon as she’s done, she always does.” It’s important to keep the lines of communication open and good relationships with everybody, including your friends! If you disappear on a job, they should know when you get out of that job so they know you’re not a workaholic :)

What’s your biggest challenge?

Trying to find time for a social life. And exercise. They can be inconsistent sometimes - see above about schedule and boundaries.

What’s the best advice you’ve received about being a freelancer?

Believe in the abundance of the universe. If you’re good at what you do, more work will come. And then you can safely enjoy your downtime, knowing that the universe is giving you a recess, and the bell (or your phone) will ring when it’s time to work again. :)

Do you have a favorite tool, product, or service that enables you to be an awesome freelancer?

Titled ‘The Recorder,’ Luke started working on this project in November of 2015.

Who and/or what was it for?

In 2014 I pitched and won the opportunity to relaunch Monotype’s historic publication ‘The Recorder’ and since then I’ve produced 3 issues overseeing all aspects of art-direction, design, & artwork.

Did you collaborate on it with anyone else?

Yes, Emma Tucker is the editor and we work closely together deciding on content, commissioning illustration, photography and writing. I then compiled it all into a 120+ page magazine.

Why did you become a freelancer?

I have taken on freelance jobs since graduating in 2008 to supplement my full-time design income and to allow me the creative freedom I crave. I hope one day to take the leap into full-time freelance to chase more of this sort of work!

What makes a good freelancer?

Good communication skills, a small ego, a dash of self-belief, a big dollop of focus and determination, plenty of attention to detail and a huge amount of passion.

What’s your biggest challenge?

Fitting in a job like The Recorder around my job and my wife and my other responsibilities can sometimes feel like i’ve bitten off more than I can chew – it takes a lot of late nights and determination to make an issue happen. But the task is so enjoyable, it doesn’t really feel like work.

What’s the best advice you’ve received about being a freelancer?

Always get clients to sign a contract BEFORE you start the work!

Do you have a favorite tool, product, or service that enables you to be an awesome freelancer?

Armed only with a ballpoint pen I realised more than 40 ‘meta-illustrations’ for the In Vitro Meat Cookbook by Next nature Network, an exploration of the future of meat; the aim of the project was to move beyond in vitro meat as an inferior fake-meat replacement or horseless carriage, to explore its creative prospects and visualise what in vitro meat products might be on our plate one day.

The aim of the project was not to promote lab-grown meat, nor to predict the future, but rather to visualise a wide range of possible new dishes and food cultures to help us decide what future we actually want.

The book won an award by the Dutch Design Award 2014 in the Research section, praising its social value and visual appealing.

Did you collaborate on it with anyone else?

To start a new illustration the whole team of Next Nature would work together like a perfect mechanism, sitting first together to brainstorm on the concept and visualisation, then a colleague (Francesca Barchiesi) would create a quick photoshop sketch of the new dish for me to set the composition and use as a reference, which was great to organise and go through such an amount of work.

Inspired by a scientific illustration esthetics, the stylistic choice meant to communicate further than what’s merely the pictorial aspect of the image; as somebody would when encountering something utterly new, foreign and mysterious, we tried tried to document the in vitro meat future until its most idle details.

Why did you become a freelancer?

I wanted to put effort in projects I would honestly be proud of, and to take ownership of my work and by extension, of my life.

What makes a good freelancer?

An unlimited amount of stamina. :)

To succeed as a freelancer it’s necessary to develop a whole lot of skills apart from the ones needed as a designer. Being social is key, as networking doesn’t happen from the comfort of your desk. I’m still working on that one. And also being nice to people it’s essential. Also not a joke!

What’s your biggest challenge?

Understanding how much I’m worth of and putting a price on it.

What’s the best advice you’ve received about being a freelancer?

Not sure I received one. But if I would, it would have probably been about the importance of putting yourself out there, aka networking. In person.

Do you have a favorite tool, product, or service that enables you to be an awesome freelancer?